IN THE early 90s, my company signed an exclusive deal to distribute the NeXT computer, a visionary machine that built in features that left its rivals at the time, IBM and Compaq, trailing behind.

To launch our “deal” we hired the London Palladium for a day and an elegant upstart, a certain Mr Steve Jobs, took the stage dressed in his by then customary black outfit.

He was captivating as he outlined his vision of computing and its role in years to come. For over an hour, you could have heard a pin drop as he spoke, without notes and with only the odd picture behind him. Inspirational – you bet.

Later that evening, we, some 100 of us, had dinner with the man at the Veeraswamy restaurant on Regent Street, and he spoke to everyone individually during the course of the evening. He had a rare gift in that when he spoke to you, you felt he was interested in what you had to say. I recall being amazed at the professionalism and drive of this enigmatic character.

Ultimately he achieved his dream, changing the way the world viewed personal computing, and on the way creating one of the top 10 brands of the globe and one of the largest by capitalisation.

His insistence on the computing experience being “bullet-proof” was admirable. He was virtually alone in advocating from the start that the user should never see the operating system. Apple, Mackintosh, Ipod, IPad,iPhone they all hold true to that mantra.

But it wasn’t just design excellence that he offered the world – he changed irrevocably the world of music distribution and his Apple Stores present a new paradigm in the world of retailing. The much clichéd term “innovation” could be genuinely applied to him, and his Apps store has created many phenomena, of which Angry Birds is probably the outstanding example.

As for the NeXT, well, the computer industry that today is heaping praise upon him refused to develop software for his dream machine and it quietly disappeared – although it remains, in my memory, the best computer (by far) that I have ever used.

Steve Jobs – he changed the way we do stuff. Not many can say that.

STEVE SMITH is digital industry director at Liverpool Vision.